From causing a major phone outage to shutting down street lights across parks, suburbs and roads, copper theft has become a clear public safety risk.

Last week, Optus said a phone and mobile data outage that affected more than 14,000 people across south-east Melbourne was triggered by thieves trying to steal copper – and accidentally cutting the wrong cable.

Across the border, last month the South Australia government introduced a bill to crack down on scrap metal theft, particularly copper. That followed more than 2,000 scrap metal thefts from building sites in 2023-24, costing an estimated A$70 million a year – just in one state.

But why are people stealing copper? And what’s being done to stop it?

Copper theft has become a multi-billion problem worldwide. In Australia, thieves have recently gone as far as stealing copper memorial plaques from cemeteries.

Back in 2011, an Australian Institute........

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